Sunday

Eldest Sister did the visit today with two of her kids. They came to us for lunch before returning home which was great for all sorts of reasons. But first, here’s what she told us after her time with Mum. {with names redacted obviously}..

A good visit today. Mum was chatty and we reminisced about places they took the kids when they stayed with her and when mum & I saw Grease at the cinema. Only Dick & Harry got a mention today as being there. She spoke about two babies being born there and how they were given to her. She also mentioned that someone has told her that her dad was dead but that couldn’t be true as she’d seen him.

We laughed a lot and she seemed happy and alert.

She spoke about going out to lunch sometime and visiting {youngest son} and {his girlfriend} when they buy a place to live. We just explained that she needed to get a bit better and stronger and then we will make plans.

Thanks once again Nick & Lesley for feeding us..

The Dick she referred to was one of Mum’s uncles. Harry could be her brother. Various uncles are called when she’s in pain from stomach cramps but her brother hardly ever gets a mention.

I’ve wrestled long and hard over this entry. Eldest Sister mentioned something Mum said to them after we’d had lunch and as she didn’t include it in her family update I won’t include it here. But they’d found it a bit shocking and there was another sharp intake of breath when she recounted it to us. I did wonder whether it was worth including as an example of how things people say get reframed to the values that were acceptable in the era they’ve reverted to and get said because normal social filters aren’t working properly. But I don’t think what she said has ever been acceptable.

But eldest Sister’s visit gave me the chance to take a day off from visiting Mum and we took a restorative walk on one of The Dog’s favourite routes in the evening sunshine instead.

Author’s Note

My Mum is in a nursing home in a small village in the Thames Valley. The photo is not of the home. I used an AI image generator to give the reader some idea of the home she’s in.

All, some or maybe even none (you’ll never know!) of the names have been changed to protect privacy and hide real identities. If you think you recognise someone then let me know and I’ll edit the post or remove it entirely